Characters Who Feel Like Friends

I hope everyone is having a wonderful February and that your household is untouched by the flu that seems to be everywhere. I spent three plus weeks sick and believe me, the experience has made me long for warm weather and no more cold and flu season!

The second book in my Homegrown Love series, A Recipe for Romance, released in mid-January. That, coupled with the flu, prompted me to take a few weeks “off” from writing.

But now that A Recipe for Romance is out (and the paperback will be out next week) and I am finally feeling better, it’s time to devote all of my attention to the third book in the series, A Reservation for Romance. I can’t believe it! It seems like just yesterday when we started working on the Arcadia Valley project.

Now, I don’t like to play favorites when it comes to my book characters…but I have to admit that Brooke Jennings Lockwood is kind of at the top of my list! I first introduced Brooke in A Romance Rekindled, my novella that is part of the Romance Grows in Arcadia Valley collection.

In that story, we first got to know Brooke through the eyes of her cousin, Kate. Then On Board for Romance showed us a little more of Brooke’s life and how much her youngest sister, Riley, relies on her.

A Recipe for Romance gave us a little more insight into Brooke as she gave her sister, Olivia, sound advice as she dealt with a crisis.

And finally—finally! A Reservation for Romance (coming in July) will tell Brooke’s whole story! If you’ve read the series so far, you know she’s a widow and a young mom—and she runs a farm full of Nigerian Dwarf goats and chickens—but there’s more to her than that. In A Reservation for Romance, Brooke is finally going to be ready to find love again…or as ready as someone in her situation can be.

Check out the cover for my July release, A Reservation for Romance!

And her love interest is another of my favorite Arcadia Valley characters—and he has also been in every one of the Homegrown Love books so far! Grant Ward, owner of the Beanery, is friends with several of the characters—and his place is a regular hangout for Riley, Brooke, Kate, and Olivia. He and Brooke even went to high school together.

But, of course, Grant has lots of secrets of his own—his story is one that I think you’ll find very interesting.

Brooke and Grant have both had more than their fair share of heartbreak—so their love story won’t be an easy one. (but as an author, it’s a satisfying one to write!)

As I’m writing Brooke’s story, I’m trying to decide how much of Kate, Riley, and Olivia’s stories I want to “wrap” up. For those of you (like me) who love to read books in a series so you get to really know the characters and you get to see them throughout several years—how do you prefer to see a series end: Do you like to see all the characters lives wrapped up so you feel like you know how the future will unfold for them? Or do you like to have some things left unsaid, so you can draw your own conclusions? (Or maybe you’re in another camp and you want to see more stories! That’s a fine answer, too!) :)

Annalisa Daughety writes contemporary fiction set in historic locations, including the Walk in the Park series, Love Finds You in Charm, Ohio, and A Wedding to Remember in Charleston, South Carolina. She lives in Arkansas and is hard at work on her next book.

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Comments

Hi Annalisa, here is some sunshine and warmth from Australia- our weather has been awesome, lovely warm days and cool evenings! The flu is nasty!
I love reading series, especially when characters from previous books make appearances. If a book is definitely the end, then I do like to know what the future holds for characters- they honestly do feel like people you know at the end. Mind you, if an author is willing to write more books with the characters…I am happy to read them:)
Blessings:)

Hi Annalisa! Cold morning in SW Michigan. Last weekend we received 15 inches of snow, I am so over winter with its cold, the fluctuating temperatures, gloom, shoveling and the family being under the weather. For the past month somebody in the family has been sick – both daughter in laws had pneumonia, grandkids all had colds and the flu. Hubby and I have been suffering with sinus and drainage. Winter go away, come back in December.

I enjoy reading series and am looking forward to the rest of the story. The Arcadia Valley series I read each book as it was released, therefore I am reading each romance as a stand alone and I am ok with drawing my own conclusions on previous characters. Best wishes.

I prefer the book is wrapped up if it’s the end of the series. If it’s not wrapped up, it leaves me expecting another book. Yes, I like HEA books because it feels like the time I spent reading was worthwhile, and provided my “escape” from every day life.

You are right! There are some series I’ve read where at the end I felt like things were “unfinished” which would be fine if there were more books. But when there aren’t and things are left that way…I am left wondering!

We have been fighting the sniffles every now and then, and one week we all got sick, but it was short lived, thank goodness! I do quite a bit to keep us from getting sick. It is always too nasty and I don’t want that in my house! Icky flu. I’m sorry you all are suffering with it. Winter is good for that. As for series, I like a wrap up of sorts. Then I can happily close the book and not wonder what they are doing.

When I get to know the characters, I always want to know what the future looks like for them. I don’t like to be left guessing. However, it’s hard to let them go so I also would be open to more stories!

Trying to figure out how we’re going to get our hot water tank replaced today. Since it’s a holiday weekend, we can’t find a plumber to come out. I can’t imagine waiting until Tuesday to shower….. or make coffee.

I’d like a series to at least close the story for the main characters. I want to know that they’re living their happily ever afters.

I definitely like things wrapped up as much as possible! I just finished one of the Arcadia Valley books that is supposed to be the last of that author’s series in the overall series, and she didn’t wrap it up the way I would have liked! Very frustrating :-) I like epilogues that at least hint at what’s to come.

If it is the last book in the series, then I like to see things wrapped up. Especially with beloved characters that feel like friends. I like HEA’s but understand that not everyone gets that in real life. I can accept that in a characters life, just don’t leave me hanging, wondering what happened. I once read a series and fell in love with the characters in it. I waited anxiously for each new book to come out, I sent fan mail to the author. Finally, the last book arrived on my kindle, I savored it wanting to make it last but at the same time eager to see how my friends’ lives were. Then it ended, just abruptly ended. I didn’t know if they were safe or not. My heart ached, surely something was wrong with the Kindle edition. I contacted the publisher to ask if it was the final version, was there a chapter missing or an epilogue maybe. I contacted the author, when she confirmed that indeed that was the ending, I cried, I could not get over it. I became a pest and begged the author to send me her final thoughts, there were so many ways the story could have ended, I needed to know which path was taken. I still don’t know but I found out that I was not alone, it seems other people were clamoring for a proper ending. The last I heard she was working on a new story that would tie up the loose ends. I apologized for being a pest, she said I was the most polite “pest” she had heard from.
So, if you are still reading this, then please do your readers a favor and tie up loose ends when you finish a series. That being said, we readers (most that I know anyway) don’t mind a cameo or “Easter egg” appearance in another book, it gives me a little thrill to recognize an old friend in a new place.

I’ve felt that same way about a couple of series in the past! I actually wrote a series once where I had two elderly sisters show up–they were so funny and I just loved writing them. I ended up bringing them back to a totally unrelated series, which worked because I’d established in the original book that they enjoyed traveling. It was fun to hear from readers who caught that they were the same characters. :)

Hi Annalisa, so sorry to hear that you were sick for so long. Our youngest daughter has been sick with the flu for a week now. This time it won’t be going around the family. Her husband is in the Air Force and they are stationed 2,000 miles away in Las Vegas. I’ve been trying to give her love and sympathy long distance. As far as a series goes I prefer to have it wrapped up so that I am not wondering how everyone is doing.

So glad you are feeling better. I love series, and I love when characters from previous books show up in future books. I like tidbits on how they are doing and sometimes they are more prominent minor characters. Characters become more like family the more you see them. One reason I prefer to wait til a series is out before reading is so I don’t forget little tidbits from previous books and can fully immerse myself in the stories when the town and the people become a bigger part of the experience.

I love to have things wrapped up. I also have to see if I’ve missed any of the books. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series. It was a unique way to have several authors involved (at least to me it was unique!)

There are authors who write series that when the last one is over, you are thinking, more, more, more.
Then there are authors who write series that after the first 3 or 4 you are thinking, the first book was great, what happened to the others?

This book is going on my TBR list – a single mom AND dwarf goats and chickens – yay! I don’t like when a series comes to an end. The only good thing about the end of any book is the beginning of another.

I can definitely say I don’t like things left hanging. However, I love series. By the second book it’s as if I’m right there with them as though we were best friends. If they are good enough to keep my interest, I would have no problem with it continuing. Like some TV series can go on for six years and your still not ready to say goodbye.
One way I have read a series, is where there is a spinoff. Like the next generation or one of the families going off in a different direction, with maybe one of the previous characters stopping in once in a while. 😉

HI, Annalisa!
I hate saying goodbye to my “friends” in the books I love. If a series and it’s characters are definitely coming to an end, then I like to know more about the end of their story, but I love to see them interact with new characters across other series, as well. You know, it really is very small world. ;-)
Goodbye doesn’t have to be permanent. It can really be see you later.
Until next time,
Linda

I’m glad you’re finally feeling better. As someone who loves reading series I always hope for more books. However, if more stories aren’t coming I like to see most of the loose ends wrapped up so I know how things are ending for the characters.

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